3 ms·
New antibiotics are in the works all the time. We are currently in an arms race with infections; I recall reading that new antibiotics are expected to last for
by sliverstorm 12y ago
New antibiotics are in the works all the time. We are currently in an arms race with infections; I recall reading that new antibiotics are expected to last for only 10 years, and future antibiotics are going to last even less time (before resistance develops)
Why doesn't it get more press? I don't know for sure, but it is:
- Ongoing, which makes for bad news
- Kind of depressing, because we are slowly losing the battle
- Feels a little bit hopeless, because foolish choices by individuals accelerate the development of resistance, and inventing new antibiotics doesn't fix that fundamental problem
- richardwigley 12y agoYeah, it is depressing in the UK - the usage of antibiotics on colds (i.e. of no value to most people with colds) has increased 40% this century even with a campaign to limit usage. I've personally spoken to a couple of GPs/Docs and they said after a few hours of people coming in and asking they get tired and give in. Between that and farms using them like M&Ms (smarties ;-) ) on the cattle it seems like people are taking a precious resource and throwing it on the floor. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-28648785 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-28648785